The regular annual meeting of the Initiative member nations’ Deputy Chiefs of Defence for cooperation of Ministers of Defence of South-East Europe (SEDM), which was planned to be held in Bucharest, Romania was conducted over a video conference call due to measures for prevention of spreading COVID-19 coronavirus.
Deputy Chief of GS of the Army of Republic of North Macedonia, Major-General Azim Nuredin in his speech stressed our commitment, as 30th NATO member-state and established partner, to fulfill all our obligations in the following six years as a host-country to SEEBRIG HQ.
Most significant activities of the SEDM process in the past year were presented at the meeting, as well as the activities of the South-East Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG), accentuating its HQ’s readiness for relocation from Larisa, Greece to Kumanovo, Republic of North Macedonia, which is scheduled for August this year. The attendees were familiarized with this by SEEBRIG Commander, Brigadier General Tudorica Petrache.
In addition, they discussed the current situation and the impact of the pandemic COVID-19 in the region, and also the execution of the forthcoming simulation exercise ‘SEESIM-20’ for the Armies of SEDM participating nations, which is planned for November 2020 in Veles, Republic of North Macedonia.
The Chairman of the SEDM Coordination Committee (SEDM-CC) and Politico-Military Steering Committee (PMSC), and current Deputy Minister of Defence of Albania, Petro Koçi, also addressed the attendees with a review of the current situation and the importance of the SEDM process for the regional security.
Besides Republic of North Macedonia, SEDM Initiative participating nations are Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Romania, the USA, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Croatia and Montenegro, and Moldova as an observer nation. With North Macedonia becoming a full-fledged member of NATO this year all SEEBRIG participants are part of the Alliance.
The Process was initiated by the United States of America in 1996 in Tirana and its main objective is strengthening understanding and politico-military cooperation in the region in order to enhance the stability and security in SEE, with complete dedication to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member nations.
